Since its inception in 1753, the British Library’s manuscript collection has included Ottoman Turkish and other Turkic texts. Over the following 270 years, the holdings grew to nearly 2000 items. While small in comparison to other language holdings from the Middle East, and miniscule compared to those in Western European languages, the British Library’s Ottoman Turkish manuscripts are nonetheless a rich survey of Ottoman cultural production from the 14th to the 20th centuries. In this presentation, Dr. Michael Erdman will provide listeners with a brief history of the collection; its contents; and a look at some of its most treasured elements.
